Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 45

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1354

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E DWIN R. PEASE. Among the old resi- dents of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, probably none were better known that the late Edwin R. Pease. Mr. Pease was born June 22, 1820, and died March 16, 1885. He was a son of Dudley S. Pease, an early settler in the village, who came from the East.

In early life Mr. Pease learned the shoe- making industry, and at the age of twenty-two years he established business for himself, man- ufacturing shoes and running a retail store. He started in business on the north side of Main street, near Bayeau street, where he re- mained for about a year, when he moved to No. 309 Main street, and there continued the bus- iness up to the time of his death. He was one of the most prominent merchants of the city, always identified with all matters of public in- terest. Although one of the most substantial and respected residents, and owner of much real estate, he never aspired to official honors. He was a Democrat, but never held any polit- ical office, except that of police commission- er, which incumbency he was holding at the time of his death. For many years he was a trustee of the old Cannon Street M. E. Church, to which he was a liberal contributor.

Mr. Pease married January 11, 1844, Cor-

nelia Stanton, a daughter of Morris and Eliza Stanton. Morris Stanton, the father of Mrs. Pease, was born in Ulster county, and followed the cooper's trade. Eliza Stanton, the mother of Mrs. Pease (more familiarly known as Eliza Bates, which name she inherited by marriage to her second husband, Joseph 1. Bates, in June, 1835), was born November 10, 1798, in a house on Academy street, standing where George W. Scott's livery stable is now located. She built the handsome building now occupied by the Dutchess Restaurant and the Dutchess Club, at No. 309 Main street, where she lived for many years, and died February 25, 1888, honored as the oldest Methodist in Pough- keepsie. She was a member of the first Methodist Sunday-school in Poughkeepsie, holding their meetings in the old church on Jefferson street. She was a daughter of Til- man Seabury, a sergeant in the Revolutionary army, who married Cornelia Kip, a direct descendant of Anneka Jans, of Trinity-Church fame.

Tradition affirms that while the Revolu- tionary soldiers were stationed at Poughkeep- sie, Tilman Seabury, wishing to make the acquaintance of Cornelia Kip, whom he had seen, purchased some handkerchiefs, and asked her to hem them for the soldiers, as the "girls" were all anxious to do work for the soldiers. She accepted, and an acquaint- ance was then formed which resulted in court- ship, and the records of the old Dutch Church at New Hackensack show that on February 27, 1778, Tilman Seabury and Cornelia Kip were married by the Rev. Isaac Rysdyke.

Mrs. Stanton (Mrs. Bates) was a grand- niece of Bishop Seabury, the first Episcopal bishop in America. Mrs. Stanton (Mrs. Bates) was also a direct descendant, through Samuel Seabury, of John Alden and Priscilla Mullens, who came to this country in the " Mayflower." Mrs. Stanton, by her marriage to Morris Stanton, had three children : Sarah, who died August 14, 1873, unmarried; Cornelia ( Pease ;, who lives at No. 117 Academy street, and Mary, who married the Rev. B. D. Palmer, now living at Paterson, New Jersey.

Dudley S. Pease, the father of Edwin R. Pease, came from Connecticut to Poughkeep- sie, where he engaged in the shoe business. He also kept a grocery store. He was. born March 5, 1785, and died March 17. 1855. On November 14, 1805, he married Lewrelly Loomis, by whom he had two chil-

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dren, Charles and Sylvia L. For his second wife he married, June 14, 1810, Maria Seares, by whom he had two children, Maria L. and Albert. For his third wife he married, De- cember 1, 1814, Sarah, daughter of Samuel (and Margaret ) Killey, a descendant of Seth Killey, of Yarmouth, by whom he had six sons and two daughters: Richard P., Margaret, Edwin R., Catherine J., Franklin, Albert S., Walter S. and Egbert K., all of whom are now dead except Albert S., who lives at Sara- toga, N. Y. Edwin R. and Cornelia Pease had four children-two sons and two daughters -all of whom are now living.

R OBERT SANFORD, a prominent citizen and a lawyer of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county, who has been a resident of that city for the past forty years, was born in Albany, N. Y., December 10, 1831.

When he was three years of age, his par- ents, Nathan and Mary (Buchanan) Sanford, removed from Albany to Flushing, L. I., where they resided four years, or until the death of the father in October, 1838. During the fol- lowing two years, Mr. Sanford traveled with his widowed mother, and at the age of ten years entered schools at Hartford, Conn., where he remained for five years, then becoming a pupil in the school of the celebrated instructor, Dr. Muhlenberg, at College Point, L. I., where he remained four years. During the next two years he was under private tutors, one of them being Rev. Dr. George H. Houghton, rector of the historical "little church around the cor- ner " on 28th street, just east of Fifth avenue, New York City, who coached him in Greek, and said to him: "Bob, you are the most stupid jackass I ever saw!" After that mental castigation, " Bob" respected his tutor, and improved in that ancient language so much as to write a letter in Greek, into which the asin- ine still existed, according to the worthy Doc- tor. For one year after this he was a student at the Kinsley Military Institute, West Point, N. Y., and the next two years were passed by him at Schenectady, N. Y. He then traveled in Europe for a couple of years with his mother.

In 1857 Mr. Sanford located at Poughkeep- sie, and began the study of law at the New York State and National Law School, graduat- ing with the class of '58. For two years he was in the law office of Joseph H. Jackson, and during the following two years practiced

law for himself. In 1860 he set out on another extended European trip, which occupied two years, during which he attended a course of lectures at the Sorbonne, in Paris, and was presented at the Court of Napoleon III. Re- turning to the United States, he practiced law in Poughkeepsie for three years, or until 1865, at which time he commenced his third trip across the Atlantic, the winter being spent at Ventnor, Isle of Wight, hunting, and the sum- mer in London, where he was presented at Court by his cousin, Charles Francis Adams, then minister of the Court of St. James. At the end of about two years he returned to the United States, and to Poughkeepsie.

On May 23. 1867, Mr. Sanford was united in marriage with Miss Mary Helen Hooker Stuyvesant, eldest daughter of John R. Stuyvesant, a resident of Edgewood, Hyde Park, Dutchess county, and a great-grand- daughter of Petrus Stuyvesant, Colonial Gov- ernor of the State of New York. Five chil- dren have been born of this union: Mary Buchanan, Henry Gausevoort, Helen Stuyves- ant and Désiré Mckean. Of these, Stuyves- ant died August 13, 1890; the others are at home with their parents.

Mr. Sanford in his political predilections is a Republican, but no partisan, and while a loyal citizen has always declined office. So- cially, he is a member of the Sigma Phi Fra- ternity, the Aztec Society (a Mexican war so- ciety); the Amrita Club, of Poughkeepsie; the Dutchess Hunt Club; the Union League Club, of New York City; the Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Animals, in which society he has always taken great interest; the American Geographical Society; the Church Club of New York, besides many others. He is a trustee of the Church of the Holy Com- forter, at Poughkeepsie; and was a member of the board of education from 1862 to 1866, having to resign on account of his going to Europe.

Physically, Mr. Sanford, who is now ( 1897) sixty-six years of age, is of about medium height, and of the blonde type; is possessed of a well-knit frame, having from his youth kept up his out-door exercise- skating, riding, walk- ing, etc., as well as fencing-in fact, he is a moderate all-round athlete, without ever ex- celling in any one exercise. Ventilation, sew- erage, and sanitary matters in general, and, above all, pure air, have been his "hobbies," so much so that he has sometimes been called

Nobert Vanfond

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a " crank " on these subjects; indeed, he claims that the foul air of the court rooms finally drove him away from active practice in them.

Mr. Sanford has a delightfully picturesque home in Poughkeepsie, beautified with wide lawns, winding walks, and a romantic little brook; while the house is commodious, and elegantly designed and furnished. Everywhere are seen evidences of cultivated taste and re- fined associations, while souvenirs of his travels in foreign countries recall to him many pleas- ant memories of years of sight-seeing. No family stands higher than that of Robert San- ford, and the hospitable home is always open to a large circle of warm friends.

SANFORD FAMILY. The ancient family of Sontford, Sonforde, or Sanford of Sandford, came to England with William the Conqueror, and the name of its founder occurs in every known copy of the " Battle Abbey Roll." [See Burke's "Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland."]

Thomas Sanford, the grandfather of Rob- ert Sanford, was born in Connecticut, married Phœbe Baker and settled on Long Island, at Bridgehampton, where he practiced medicine, and also followed farming, and where he died. He had two children, Nathan, our subject's father, and Phebe, who married Dr. Rufus Rose, a physician.

Nathan Sanford, father of our subject, was born at Bridgehampton, L. I., November 5. 1777, and grew to manhood on his father's farm. He received an elementary education at Clinton Academy, Easthampton, L. I., and in 1793 entered Yale College, but did not grad- uate. In 1797 he studied law with Samuel Jones, Sr., and was admitted to the bar in 1799. In 1800 he was one of the United States Commissioners of Bankruptcy, and in 1803 was made United States District Attor- ney for the Southern District of New York, which position he held twelve years. In 1811 he was chosen speaker of the State Assembly, being the last speaker to preside in a cocked hat. The following year he was elected to the State Senate, and his portrait, ordered by the State, is now in the Capitol at Albany.

In 1815 Mr. Sanford was elected to the United States Senate, and soon after relin- quished the practice of his profession, devoting himself in his legislative capacity to the inter- ests of his country. In 1821, after the expi- ration of his term of office, he was chosen a member of the convention for framing a new 16

constitution for the State of New York. In 1823 he was appointed to succeed the Hon. James Kent as chancellor of the State, which position he filled with honor until 1825, when he was again elected to the U. S. Senate, in place of Dr. Rufus King, by a unanimous vote of both branches of the Legislature. He was chairman of the committee on Foreign Affairs, the most prominent of all Senate Committees. In the Presidential election of 1824 Senator Sanford was one of the candidates for the vice- Presidency of the United States. At that period candidates were not formally nominated by their parties as at the present day. In this election there were four candidates for that office: William H. Crawford, nominated by the Democratic members of Congress; Andrew Jackson, nominated chiefly by numerous con- ventions; the candidate of the people, John Quincy Adams, nominated by the Legislatures of most of the Eastern States; and Henry Clay, nominated by his friends in various States. Mr. Sanford was put on the ticket with Clay, and the other candidates for the Vice-Presidency were: Calhoun, Macon, Van- Buren, Jackson and Clay. Neither candidates received a majority of votes, but Adams was elected when the vote was thrown into the House of Representatives. Calhoun received a large majority for Vice-President.

Among the many eminent men of New York, no one served in more important posi- tions in the same length of time than did Nathan Sanford. He was an educated man, and master of many languages. At the expi- ration of his senatorial term, he retired to his estate at Flushing, L. I., where he resided until his death, which occurred October 17, 1838. He was married three times, his third wife being Mary Buchanan, who was born in Baltimore, November 1, 1800, a daughter of Andrew and Anne (McKean) Buchanan, the former of whom was a merchant in that city. Mrs. Sanford was the second in a family of four children, the others being Susan, Thomas and Ann.

Dr. George Buchanan, the maternal great- great-grandfather of Robert Sanford, our sub- ject, was born in Scotland in 1698, and emi- grated to Maryland in 1723. His son George, also a physician, was born in Baltimore, Sep- tember 19, 1763, and married Laetia MeKean, by whom he had eleven children, Andrew, the grandfather of Robert Sanford, our subject, being the fifth in order of birth. Laetia Me-

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Kean was the daughter of Thomas Mckean, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and at one time governor of Penn- sylvania and Delaware. The Mckeans were of Irish extraction.

The marriage of Nathan Sanford and Mary Buchanan took place in the White House at Washington, President John Quincy Adams, Miss Buchanan's nearest relative, giving away the bride. But one child, Robert, was born of this union. Nathan Sanford died October 17, 1838, and his wife on April 23, 1879, at Poughkeepsie. [The above historical facts in relation to the Hon. Nathan Sanford are taken from Appleton's Encyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. V, p. 391.1

J OHN F. MARQUET (deceased), who in his lifetime was a prominent agriculturist of the town of Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, was a descendant of one of the pioncer settlers in that vicinity, and was born July 13, 1828, upon the farm he lately occupied.

His great-grandfather, George Marquet, emigrated from Holland, and at an early date settled upon a tract of land near the present site of Wurtemburg, and it has ever since been the 'home of his family. George Marquet, our subject's grandfather, passed his life there; he married Anna -, and reared a family of children: John G. and William H., both farmers in Rhinebeck; David; and Margaret, who married Philip Pultz, a farmer of the same locality.

David Marquet, our subject's father, was born November 8, 1794, and was married November 5, 1815, to Savina Cookingham, born November 13, 1794, a daughter of Fred- erick Cookingham, of Rhinebeck. They also settled at the old farm where four children born to them, as follows: Anna E., March 30, 1817; Matilda, June 2, 1820; Margaret, April 8, 1824; and John F., our subject. The father of this family died at the old home April 3, 1838, the mother on July 28, 1889.

The youth of John F. Marquet was passed mnuch the same as that of any other healthy country boy, and as he grew to manhood he, too, determined to become a general farmer. Ile was married October 2. 1851, to Emily Cookingham, whose ancestors came from Hol- land in the early days, and settled in the town of Rhinebeck, where her grandfather, George Cookingham, was a leading farmer of his time.

Her father, David I. Cookingham, also a farmer there, married Mary Schryver, a lady of German descent, and daughter of John Schryver, of Rhinebeck. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Marquet lived for fifteen years upon a farm near the church, a part of which they then sold for the beautiful Wurteinburg Cemetery. In 1866 they moved to the 118- acre farin at the old homestead. Two daugh- ters blessed their home only to be taken away in early womanhood: Ida, born January 31, 1853, died June 20, 1877; and Mary, born May 19, 1857, died May 10, 1884. The par- ents are both also now deceased, the father passing away February 15, 1896, and the mother on February 19, 1896. This family was always connected with the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Marquet and his wife were leading members of the congregation at Wurt- emburg. In politics he was a Republican, but he never was in any sense a politician, and sought no office.

OHN MILLARD (deceased). The subject of this sketch was born in Poughkeepsie,

Dutchess county, May 21, 1789, and was the son of Charles and Lydia (Pride) Millard, the former of whom was born in Cornwall, Conn., February 19, 1763.

Our subject lived but a short time in Poughkeepsie, moving in early life to Mar]- borough, Ulster county. He married Miss Sarah Purdy, a daughter of John S. and Eliza- beth (Jennings) Purdy, who was born in White Plains, Westchester county, in 1793, where she lived until fourteen years old. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Millard located in New York and subsequently in Brooklyn, where our subject carried on a wholesale and retail gro- cery business. The following children were born to them: Lydia resides in Poughkeep- sie; Elizabeth; Hester lives in Poughkeepsie; Sarah; Charles; Martha J .; John P. is a resi- dent of Poughkeepsie; Samuel N. is a retired citizen of Marlborough, Ulster county; James. Our subject, with his wife, was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and he took an act- ive interest in all public matters. His death took place April 28, 1871, and that of his wife October 6, 1881.

Charles Millard was in the army at New- burgh, N. Y., under Washington, when Ar- nold, the traitor, fled from West Point. In 1800 Mr. Millard was living in Marlborough,

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Ulster county, and was engaged in the lumber business. He was married to Miss Lydia Pride, of Poughkeepsie, a daughter of John and Magdaline Pride. The latter couple were proprietors of the half-way house between Al- bany and New York, on the old post-road north of the City of Poughkeepsie. To Mr. and Mrs. Millard were born the following chil- dren: John, our subject; James, who was a lum- ber merchant at Catskill, N. Y .; Charles, who was a merchant of New Orleans; William, who was a man of means and traveled extensively; Walter, who was engaged with his father in the lumber business; Cornelia, married to Hackaliah Purdy, a farmer of Ulster county; Catherine, who became the wife of Elam Dun- bar, a farmer of Connecticut, who previously had conducted a hat factory in Poughkeepsie; Caroline, who died unmarried ; and by a second marriage, Margaret and Franklin. Mr. Mill- ard moved his lumber business to New Ham- burg, in 1824, and died there in 1827. John Millard, the grandfather, was born January 15, 1736, in Massachusetts, and died November 22, 1813. He married Miss Christiana Rust, who was born November 21, 1742, and died June 17, 1831. Their children were: Charles; Rufus; Philo, who was a musician; Ira, who was a manufacturer at Wappingers Falls, Dutchess county; Russell, who was a resident of Connecticut. Robert Millard, the great- grandfather, was a native of Massachusetts. His ancestors were of French-Huguenot stock.

John S. Purdy. the father of Mrs. Millard, was born in Westchester county, N. Y., July II, 1763, and died September 23, 1856. He was a patriot, and when a mere boy served in the Revolutionary war. He married Miss Elizabeth Jennings, a daughter of Peter Jen- nings, who was born May 12, 1765, and died in 1842. They were married March 21, 1786, and had the following children: Hester, born June 17, 1787, married Dennis H. Doyle, who, in the year 1807, with Robert Fulton, took the first trip up the Hudson, on the "Clermont"; Peter, born January 19, 1789; Elisha, born May 3, 1791 ; Sarah, born April 17, 1793; Lydia, born December 15, 1795, married William Smith, who was in the war of 1812; Hackaliah, born November 22, 1797; Eliza, born July 1, 1799; Martha, born April 3, 1801 ; Maria, born March 5, 1803; Dennis, born December 4, 1805; William J., born October 16, 1809. Dennis is the only one living now ( 1897), at the age of ninety-one. Elisha Purdy, father of John S.,

was born at White Plains, Westchester county. He married Mehitable Smith, a daughter of Rev. John Smith, D. D., and they reared these children: John S., Thomas. James, Hetta, Challie, Elizabeth, Winfred, Nancy, and Ainee. Elisha was a farmer in Westchester and Ulster counties. Nathaniel Purdy, father of Elisha, was a native of Westchester county, and was an Episcopal minister. His father was John Purdy, a son of Joseph, a son of Francis, who came from Yorkshire, England, in 1658, and settled in Fairfield, Conn. The Purdys were originally from Wales, and settled in England. Two sons of Francis Purdy, Joseph and Fran- cis, were commissioned surveyors by the Crown, and sent to America.

Rev. John Smith, D). D., above referred to, was born in England in 1702. He was educated at Oxford, and for thirty years, until his death in 1771, served as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Rye, Westchester Co., N. Y. He married Mehitable Hooker, a great- granddaughter of Rev. Thomas Hooker, the founder of Hartford, Conn., in 1636.

P ETER B. HAYT, of the firm of Peter B. Hayt & Co., was born in Poughkeepsie October 8, 1835. In the spring of 1836 his parents moved to a farm in New Hackensack, Dutchess county, where he was reared, early in life attending a private school and later a district school, and finishing his education at Amenia Seminary.

In 1854 Mr. Hayt went to Newburgh and clerked for Stephen Hayt & Co., dry-goods merchants, where he remained until 1862, when he came to Poughkeepsie and entered in the merchant-tailoring business under the firm name of Seward, Vail & Hayt. The firm was subsequently changed to Seward & Hayt, Sew- ard, Hayt & Co., Seward & Hayt, Peter B. Hayt & Co., Hayt & Alley, Hayt & Lindley, and, in 1892, to Peter B. Hayt & Co. The business at present is located corner of Main and Garden streets.

Mr. Hayt is a Republican, but has never held a political office; he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a director and vice- president of the Poughkeepsie Electric Light & Power Co. He is a member of Davy Crockett . Hook and Ladder Co., which organization he ! joined in 1862, and has been treasurer of the company since 1873.

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W ILSON B. SHELDON. . Among the citizens of mark of Dutchess county no one is more worthy of consideration than this gentleman. Although now well advanced in years, he is still one of the most energetic and wide-awake citizens in the town of Beek- man. A native of Dutchess county, he was born in the town of Dover, August 3, 1810, and is of English extraction.

Caleb Sheldon, his grandfather, was also born in the town of Dover, and there he learned the blacksmith's trade, which he fol- lowed in early life, later, however, turning his attention to farming. He married a Miss Waldo, by whom he had four children-two sons (Agrippa, a cattle dealer; and Luther, father of our subject) and two daughters, all born in Dover township.

Luther Sheldon grew to manhood upon a farm, and was married to Miss Mary Butts, who was also born and reared upon a farm in the town of Dover. Their entire lives were there passed in rural pursuits, the father dying in 1863, and the mother in 1865. They were earnest Christian people, devout mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he was first a Whig and later a Re- publican. Eleven children were born to this honored couple, as follows: Phoebe, Anor,

Delilah, Theodorus and Electa (twins), Ophelia, Albro, Wilson B., Jeremiah, Har- rison and Almira, all of whom married and had children, but all are now deceased, except Wilson B.

Our subject received a somewhat limited education, and his boyhood time was much occupied in the arduous work of the farm, so much so that his schooling was limited to about two months during the winter seasons. Later, however, he was a student at the Nine Partners School, in the town of Washington, Dutchess county, and on leaving school he re- turned to the old farm, where he remained un- til attaining his majority. In starting out in life for himself, he commenced as a drover, his first experience in that line being in the year 1831, when he loaded one hundred sheep into a boat, to be taken to New York City. Near Tarrytown, the boat sank, but his sheep were taken ashore, and he drove then: to the city, which he reached after thirty-six hours. Having sold them for a high price, he was.so encouraged that he decided to remain in the stock business, which he continued to follow with good success for twenty-five years, dur-

ing which time he did an extensive business. In 1842 he purchased his present farm in the town of Beekman, to which he removed four years later, and has since engaged in agri- cultural pursuits.

On April 1, 1840, Mr. Sheldon was mar- ried to Miss Hannah Maria Doughty, who was born upon their present farm, a daughter of Joseph Doughty, whose ancestors came from Holland. Seven children were born to this worthy couple, three of whom died in infancy, and William H. at the age of twelve years and six months. Sophia is the wife of Joseph H. Storm, a leading farmer of the town of Beek- man; she has two children-Wilson B. and Jeannette, the former of whom married Mary T. Berry (he is in the coal and lumber business at Storm Lake), the latter being the wife of Frederick Ryer, and living at Mount Vernon, N. Y. Ida first married William A. Storm, a farmer in the town of Lagrange, and her sec- ond husband was Augustus A. Brush, warden in the prison at Sing Sing, who is now deceased (she had one child by her first husband, named Susie Sheldon Storm). Allie is the wife of Frank St. John, a farmer of the town of Beek- man, and has two children-Sheldon and Ida.

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Commemorative biographical record of Dutchess County, New York, Part 45

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1354

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1354